Foldable tent



Dac. 30, 1952 A. L. MOGANTY FOLDABLE TENT 2 SHEETS-SI-1EET 1 Filed Aug. 11, 1950 INVENTOR'. MGANT FIG. 9.

FIG.

FIG. 6.

WLW/QWYWZ- Dc. 30. 1952 A. 1.. MCGANTY FOLDABLE TENT 2 SHEETS-@SHEET 2 Filed Aug. 11, 1950 IN V EN TOR.

ALMA 1. nwan/vrg A TmEIVE Y5.

Patented Dec. 30, 1 952 1:: '7

" j "UNITED ISTATES PATENT-I l TFOLDABLETENT 5 Houston, Tex. I

' a lpplication August 11, 1950, Serial No. 178,814 a t ,aolaim 01. 135-1) Y This invention relates to tents, and more parin the upstanding frame: elements of the=tent, ticularly to small camping or beach tents; whereby the cover is anchored on-the frame.

A main object of the invention is to .provide a The cover is provided in one panel thereof with novel and improved tent which is very simple a conventional zipper, indicated at [-6, extending in construction, which is easy to set up, and 5 a substantial distance upwardly along the mewhich is foldable to a very compact size. dian line of said panel, whereby a passageway A further object of the invention is to provide into and out of the tent may be provided, an improved foldable tent suitable for use as a The frame I 2 comprises a pair of front upcamping tent or as a beach tent, the tent being standing legs I? and I8, and a similar pair of very inexpensive to manufacture, being sturdy rear upstanding legs Hand 20. The respective in construction, being readily set up orfolded to upstanding legs ll, I8, [9 and 20 are hinged at collapsed condition, and involving only a few their mid-portions, the legs I! and I9 being parts. hinged at their mid-portions, as shown at 2|, so

Further objects and advantages of the inventhat the legs I! and I9. may be folded in the tion will become apparent from the following deplane of the panel defined by said legs, and the scription and claims, and from the accompanylegs It and being hinged t their mid-portions, ing drawings, wherein: as designated at 22, the hinges at 22 being ar- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an improved ranged so that the legs I8 and 20 maybe folded tent constructed in accordance with the present in the plane of the panel defined by said legs, invention; 20 as will be apparent from Figure 1. The lower Figure 2 is a front elevational view of the portions of the legs l1 andlB are connected by frame of the tent of Figure l; 1 a horizontal strut member23, which is, hinged at Figure 3 is a side elevational view of the frame its mid-portion, as shown at 24. The ends of the of the tent of Figure 1; strut member 23 are hinged respectively at 25 Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary detail 25 and 26 to the respective legs l8 and I1. As view showing an upper corner portion of the shown in Figures 6 and 7, the ends of the horiframe of the tent, illustratingthe' manner in zontal strut 23 may be connected to the upwhich a rigid top strut is secured to the top end standing legs by opposing pairs of L-shaped of one of the upstanding frame elements; V brackets 21, 21 secured to said ends, the up- Figure 5 is an enlarged fragmentary detail 30 standing legs being secured between the upview showing the same structure as Figure ,4 in standing elements of the brackets by the respecfront elevation; l I tive pivot bolts or rivets 25 and 26. The lower Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detail ends of the legs 19 and 20 on the opposing panel view showing the hinge connection between the of the frame are connected in a similar manner lowerportion of one of the upstanding frame eleby a horizontal strut element 23' hinged at its ments and one of the horizontal foldable strut mid-portion, as shown at 24, and pivotally conelements employed in the frame of the tent of nected at its ends to the lower portions of the F gure 1; legs 19 and 28'. The upper portions of the up- Figure 7 is a cross-sectional detail view taken standing legs I! and I8 and I9, 20 are connected on line 1-1 of Figure 6; respectively by short, horizontal strutmembers Figure 8 is an enlarged elevational View show- 28 and 28, said horizontal strut members being ing the hinged connection at the intermediate hinged at their mid-portions, as shown at 2? portion of one of the horizontal strut elements 29, and the ends of said horizontal strutmememployed in the frame of the tent or Figure l; bers being hinged to the upper end portions of Figure 9 is a top plan view of the structure of the respective strutmembers I1, 18 and I9, 20

Figure 8. in the same manner ,aszthe lower horizontal Referring to the drawingathe tent is desig strut members 23,.and 2,32. l a nated generally at H. The tent comprises a col- Designated at 30 and 3| are respective arched,

lapsible frame, indicated generally at [2, over rigid strut members removably, secured to the which is secured a flexible covering, such as top ends of the respective pairs of leg members canvas or other durable fabric, indicated at 13. IQ and i3, AS hOWn n, Figures 4 and,5,. The frame it! is generally pyramidalinsh'apeland the ends of the arched, rigid strut members are i the cover i3 is formed to closely fit over the reduced in thickness, as sh at band the top frame. At its lower corner portions, the coverl ends of the upstanding legmembers are simi I3 is formed with openings 14 adapted to be en-. larly, reduced in hi k as h a1 V3 gaged overdownwardly facing hooks I5 secured 1 whereby theends ofthe,arched;strutmembers;

may be overlapped with the top ends of the upstanding legs in the manner shown in Figures 4 and 5. The overlapping ends are secured together by transverse bolts 34 provided with the wing nuts 35.

Referring to Figures 8 and 9, it will be seen that the various hinges employed on the foldable legs I1, l8, l9 and and on the foldable studs 23, 23 and 28, 28' are similar in construction and are arranged so that folding can occur only on one side of the hinge. ments on the opposite sides of the hinge pin 24',

designated respectively at 33 and 34, can only be folded downwardly with respect to the hinge pin 24. From Figure 3 it will be seen that the Thus, in Figure 8, the segupper segments of the legs I! and [9 may be can belfolded downwardly and inwardly when the rigid top strut 3l is removed. The horizontal struts 23 and 25 on the front side of the frame can be folded upwardly and the horizontal struts 23 and 28' on the opposite or rear side of the frame can be folded upwardly in the same manner. Therefore, to collapse the tent, the cover [3 is first removed, the rigid top struts 3t and 3| are next removed, and the horizontal struts 23, 2G, 23 and 23' are then folded upwardly to bring the legs is and IT adjacent each other and the legs 25 and i9 adjacent each other. The upper segments of the legs 13 and II are then folded downwardly and inwardly and the upper segments of the legs 19 and 28 are then folded downwardly and inwardly, and then the last pair of horizontal hinged struts shown at 38 and 37 are folded upwardly to complete the folding of the frame. It will be noted that the horizontal strut 3'6 is pivotally connected at its ends to the lower portions of the legs I! and I9, and is hinged at its mid-portion, as shown at 38. Similarly, horizontal strut 31 is pivotally connected at its ends tothe legs !5 and 29 and is hinged at its midportion, as shown at 39. lhe hinges 3B and 39 are arranged so that the respective struts 35 and 3? may be folded upwardly, whereby the respective segments of said horizontal struts may be brought-into adjacency with the lower segments of the respective upstanding legs. The resultant folded frame-is very compact in size and may be easily transported or stored.

The reverse procediu'e is employed to set up the tent. First, the frame is unfolded to the positions shown in Figures 2 and 3, the frame being rigidly secured by connecting the rigid struts 3|- and ed to the top ends of the respective pairs of legs i8, 2% and Il IS. The flexible cover I3 is then placed over the frame and the openings it in the lower marginal corner portions of the cover are engaged over the hooks [5 carried by the legs of the frame.

It will be readily apparent that the tent may be rapidly set up and may be readily handled by a single person. It will also be noted that no tools are required to either set up the tent or to dismantle the tent. When the arched strut members 3%) and 3| are fastened to the top ends of the upstanding legs, the frame is rigidly secured and will resist strong winds without collapsing.

While a specific embodiment of an improved foldable tent has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a tent of the character described, a frame comprising four upwardly convergent foldable post elements, said post elements being hinged at their mid-portion and defining top and bottom segments foldable to side-by-side positions, respective foldable struts connecting the lower portions of said post elements, said struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being foldable upwardly against the post elements, respective additional foldable struts connecting the upper portions of the post elements on two opposite sides of the frame, said last-named struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being foldable downwardly against the post elements, and respective rigid struts detachably secured to the upper portions of the post elements on the other two sides of the frame.

2. In a. tent of the character described, a frame comprising four upwardly convergent foldable post elements, said post elements being hinged at their mid-portions and defining top and bottom segments foldable to side-by-side positions, respective foldable struts connecting the lower portions of said post elements, said struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being foldable upwardly against the post elements, respective additional foldable struts connecting the upper portions of the post elements on twoopposite sides of the frame, said last-named struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being foldable downwardly against the post elements, and respective rigid struts detachably secured to the upper portions of the post elements on the other two sides of the frame, said post elements being arranged for folding in the planes of said other two sides.

3. In a tent of the character described, a frame comprising four upwardly convergent foldable post elements, said post elements being hinged at their mid-portions and defining top and bottom segments foldable to side-by-side positions, respective foldable struts connecting the lower portions of said post elements, said struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being folda-ble upwardly against the post elements, respective additional foldable struts connecting the upper portions of the post elements on twoopposite sides of the frame, said last-named struts being also hinged at their mid-portions and being foldable downwardly against the post elements, respective rigid struts detachably secured tothe upper portions of the post elements on the other two sides of the frame, said post elements being arranged for folding in the planes of said other two sides, respective outwardly extending projections carried by the lower portions of the post elements, and a flexible cover fitting over said frame,

the bottom margin of said cover being formed with apertures receiving said projections, whereby the cover is secured on the frame.

. ALMA L; McGANTY.

CES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,263,281 De Tbsto Dec. 30, 194.1 2,393,415 Rosenfeld Jan. 22, 1946 

